Golden Mayhem
by Az The Dragon
Summary: Unleashed by an accident that nearly killed Sonic and his friends while they fought Eggman, something known as Golden Mayhem starts to brutally attack the human race, seemingly without reason. And now the destruction must be stopped...without Sonic’s help
1. Chapter 1

Sonic and company are © Sega/Sonic Team. This work was brought to you by Az The Dragon with no intention of getting money out of it. I just belong the plot, the ideas in it and whatever original things there are, nothing more. Do not steal, and if you want to post this on your site, ask for permission first.

**A huge thank you to my beta reader, Soupy (aka Westward-to-Alliot on DA), who helped me with more than just beta-ing (like shortening the original summary so that it could fit into summary field). I own you one, sister!  
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**Golden Mayhem**

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Green.

Everything in that place was green.

The browns of the earth and trees' bark, the grays of the stones… even the air was tainted green in that forest.

No wonder that place was called 'Emerald Forest'…

The jungle, temperate in nature, was one of the largest on the planet Mobius. With its almost two billion acres of extension over hills and valleys, the green sea went from coast to coast and covered one third of the Northwestern Continent. The trees were tall, some even reaching over six hundred and fifty feet, with large and intricate canopies that didn't let a single ray of sun through and trunks that were over two hundred feet of circumference.

'The Forest of the Giants' was another name that fit the place very well.

Tails, a young orange fox with two tails, wasn't very happy to be in that place, but knowing where he was in the world was a fortune within misfortune. After what had happened, bring almost blasted to smithereens and then Chaos Controlled away, he wouldn't have been surprised if he had appeared into an alien world.

So, sure of his location but still completely lost and alone, he was now huddled within the cavity of one of these trees, seeking shelter from a downpour of monsoonal proportions that not even the large leaves could stop. The rain had come all of a sudden and the poor little fox was drenched and freezing, and no matter how much he rubbed his arms, he couldn't warm up.

His sky blue eyes, now used to the darker light, watched as the ground outside his raised alcove became a torrent of mud, twigs, leaves and anything the water could carry. He had never seen something like this beside Chaos' flood, and he found himself fascinated and scared by it.

If he had been in a better situation, he would have studied the entire forest and how it changed aspect during rain, but as of now he was cold, wet, hungry, lost and ultimately alone. That made Tails momentarily miss the fight with Eggman's latest robots. Not that they would be any better than this, but with them he knew what to expect. The flooding forest was all a mystery to him. For all he knew, the tree he was hiding under could lose its grip on the muddy ground and fall on his head, or be hit by lightning, or whatever that happened in that place and in that situation.

A sneeze, barely audible through the roar of all that running water, disrupted his thoughts and he brought a gloved hand to his nose. The fabric was burned and cut in places, dirty with the gray of ashes and the brown of the mud, and wet, but it was all he had at the moment. A vigorous rub of his finger on the tip of his nose later, his arm returned around his knees and under his tails, which were securely wrapped around his small body to keep him warm as much as they could.

If only Sonic was around, he would make the situation more bearable with his light comments and jokes, but thanks to what little he could remember, Tails knew that the blue hedgehog had been in the middle of that contraption when it exploded into a billion pieces and bright lights that ranged from red to yellow to white. No one could survive that blast, but for some reason, the twin tailed fox knew that his surrogate older brother had survived it.

Just like many times before that.

His eyes, which had been downcast onto the ground, glanced up when they caught a glimpse of red amongst the sea of dark greens and browns. The blurred blotch would slowly climb a tree for about fifty feet then jump away from it and glide towards another in a zigzagging course while emitting an incomprehensible call.

Curious, the young fox stood up, still keeping his arms and tails wrapped around his body, and walked to the entrance of the tree alcove, squinting his eyes to see better. It actually took him several seconds to recognize who the blotch was, and, mentally slapping himself for having forgotten that the Guardian of Angel Island had been with them during the mission, he called out to his friend with all the voice he had left.

However, when he noticed that his weak voice didn't reached the echidna's ears, Tails renounced at the warmth of both his arms and cupped his hands around his mouth. He took a deep breath, feeling the cold air puncture his throat and lungs as if it was composed of small and sharp shards of ice, and tried again.

This time he was a bit more successful in his intentions to draw the Guardian's attention, and coupled with the fact that the echidna had moved closer to his shelter, his voice reached Knuckles' ears. His tails unwound from his torso and spun around in excitement as the red male stopped and seemed to look in his direction. Tails, raising his right arm into the air, waved his hand to make himself more visible through the rain.

"Knuckles!" he called again, happier than when he was talking about the Tornado or any of his inventions. "I'm here!"

The echidna turned his head towards him and he waved into the air in reply, relieved at the sight of the young fox, and climbed another tree trunk producing a faint _'tunk tunk'_ sound. Tails watched as the red colored male positioned himself onto a low branch and flexed his arms and legs, gauging the distance between his position and the alcove the fox was sheltered under.

The Guardian took only a few seconds to calculate the path and then he was into the air, swerving with expertise through the rain and wind to reach his destination as the rain intensified. He was glad that he had found one of his friends, and although his movements were calm and calculated as always, his expression was set into a light frown that betrayed his usually cool demeanor.

"Tails!" he called back once he was close enough. He twisted in the air and landed with a splat on the muddy terrain in a shower of water and earth. "Are you ok? Where is Sonic?"

The echidna seemed so distressed, the young boy noted, distressed and anxious. He frowned and tilted his head to the side, a habit he always had, while he thought. Knuckles wasn't one to become anxious and distressed so easily, so, surely, something had happened. Something bad. He just hoped that whatever it was, Sonic was safe somewhere out there.

"I'm fine, Knuckles, but I don't know where Sonic, or Shadow, is. When I woke up I was alone. I tried to look around for the others, but I didn't want to get lost so I decided to stay close to where I found myself in case someone else was looking for me."

The Guardian nodded, his gloved hands squeezing the water out of his quills as he took shelter under the gigantic tree. "You've done well, Tails. If you had moved, I wouldn't have been able to find you."

The fox nodded his head and retracted towards the back of the alcove, where it was dry, and crouched down, huddling and using his tails as a blanket, "What should we do, Knuckles?" he asked after a while. "The rain is getting worse, and it's also getting late and cold..."

The echidna frowned deeply as he gazed at their shelter and the outside world. Tails had been really lucky to have found a place like this. The alcove was almost as large as a small room and the roof disappeared into the darkness of the tree's inside, while the entrance was narrow and low, letting little water get inside. Also, the inclination of the ground and the large roots of the tree stopped the water and the mud from transforming that place into a pool.

"As you said, the weather is getting worse and the day is close to an end," Knuckles replied after a short pause, "I don't like it, but it's best if we stop here for the night. If we go out now, we might not only get in severe trouble, but also catch a cold. Or worse..."

"But...what about Sonic? And Shadow?" Tails asked from his spot on the ground, torn between knowing that Knuckles was right and the need to go out and help his best friend and the other hedgehog, "We need to find them..! They might be in danger!"

The Guardian filled the air with a faint hum as he reached the wooden wall and tapped it with one of his fists, thinking. He knew that they needed to find the other two, especially since they tended to attract trouble like honey with flies, but at the same time he knew that going out in that weather, with night closing in, was nigh to suicide...

"We can't go out and look for them in this, Tails," He replied, frowning deeply, "but I'll light up a fire so that they might spot us if they are close by."

Knuckles was not entirely sure he could easily light a fire with wet wood, but he wouldn't let simple water stop him from giving the two hedgehogs a beacon to follow, not to mention that he and Tails needed it for the night...

His fist hit the inside of the trunk again, this time a bit too hard, and small pieces of creamy colored bark flew everywhere, giving Knuckles an idea. Crouching down, he started to gather what had detached from the tree and piled them as close to the entrance as possible without having the rain soak it. At the moment the mound was small, enough to be held in two cupped hands, but if he started to collect more from the trunk around him, he would be able to use the dry wood to start a fire. Then burning wet wood wouldn't be much of a problem, except for creating a lot of smoke.

But then again, smoke could alert Sonic and Shadow that someone was nearby.

Knuckles hoped, though, that all the rain wouldn't hinder the scent of burning wood too much or the two hedgehogs would be completely lost.

"Tails," he called as he walked towards the entrance to peer outside, "I'm going to gather some wood. Can you get more from the dry bark so that the pile is large enough to sustain a strong fire?"

He didn't like to go out in that weather for a second time, especially when he was starting to dry up and get comfortably warm, nor did he like to leave the young fox alone again, but he knew that he needed that wood for the night and he hadn't much time left before it was too dark to move into that hellish place.

"How long will you be gone?"

Tails was understandably uncomfortable on having to remain alone again, but he mustered all his courage and stood up to peel wooden material from the inside of the trunk where he was standing. He wasn't one to panic or get scared, but being alone was one of the few things that the young fox still feared.

"I'll be back every ten or fifteen minutes," the Guardian replied, gritting his teeth at the cold rain, "to make sure you're ok and to leave the wood I gathered. When we'll have enough, I'll light the fire."

The fox nodded and walked near the entrance, hands full of chips of dry bark, and added them to the small pile, wondering exactly how much more was needed. He wasn't an expert of surviving in the wild, but maybe he could use the rule of 'the more, the better.'

"Ok..." he replied, not too happy, but understanding. He knew that they really needed that wood, especially if their friends found them...they would need a lot of warmth and the possibility to quickly dry up even if he had never seen Sonic suffer the cold, or get ill. And Shadow...would Shadow, considering his genetic heritage and enhanced DNA, suffer like a normal Mobian? Gerald had genetically engineered him to be perfect...

"Hey, Knuckles!"

The Guardian stopped just outside the entrance of their shelter and turned around to look at the fox, brow set in a questioning expression and voice producing a small hum to tell the young boy that he was listening.

"Look out for them, ok?"

"I will, Tails," he replied with a solemn nod of his head, the water running down his forehead and almost getting into his eyes. He was used to rough weather, but that didn't mean that he liked it, and back home, on Angel Island, he had built a small shelter very close to the altar of the precious jewel known as the Master Emerald.

Turning around again to face the wild, the echidna took a step forward and looked around. The ground was almost like a raging river of mud and any twig or piece of wood had been submerged or carried away towards the bottom of the valley. The only way to gain anything to burn now was either to knock down an entire tree, which was too big even for him, or climb up and grab branches.

Sure, green wood would produce a terrible scent and a lot of smoke upon burning, but it was better than anything, and if he found dead branches…well, even better!

Walking up to the next tree, the Guardian slammed his right fist into the old trunk and gently moved it up and down to make sure it was well stuck before he repeated the action with his other hand, only this time placing it a foot above the other. Once he knew that he was firmly lodged to the tree, Knuckles placed both his feet on the wooden surface. The grasp on the wet bark wasn't the best for climbing, but thanks to his special gloves and shoes, it would be only just so hard to get up to the top.

So, small step after small step, and thanks to his experience in climbing, Knuckles took advantage of any crevice or bump on the surface of the tree to reach the top, and when those were too distant or non-present, he was forced to use only the spikes on his hands to go on. By the time he was up in the canopy, the echidna noted that the world had become a bit darker.

And that wasn't a good thing.

If he took so long to go up and down, there would be no time to gather enough wood for the night. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm his racing heart and fast breathing and looked around. He was pretty high, but even with that advantage point, he could barely see the surroundings, and what he could see was a raging river of mud that ran towards the bottom of the valley.

Everything of that place was so alien to him…Sure, there was a giant forest on Angel Island too, but it was a place that he knew like the back of his hand. This…this was something he had never seen before! The flora, beside being big, had nothing in common with the Mushroom Forest back home and he had no clue what was edible, what could heal wounds or what could outright kill them.

And Knuckles disliked unexpected circumstances.

"Next time, hedgehog," he found himself growling to the empty cold air, "next time I'll… I'll… I'll tie you up and lock you into a room without windows!" Frustrated. Yes, the Guardian was completely frustrated with himself, his current predicament and Sonic for having dragged him into all this. "Did you hear me?!"

Having finally vented his pent up frustration, Knuckles took a few more seconds to look at the surroundings to see if he could spot Sonic, but upon seeing that there was no hedgehog trudging through the mud, he gave up and looked at the large branch he was on.

It was big enough to last all night if used correctly, and the large leaves could be used as a cot to sleep on once they were dry. Not too bad for being lost in the middle of a forest with no supply whatsoever…

Raising one fist into the air, Knuckles carefully took aim, then slammed his namesakes onto the rough surface with all his strength. The thick wood exploded into thousands of shards that flew everywhere through the rain, creating a beautiful, but dangerous shower of vivid light brown.

One mitted hand quickly traveled in front of violet eyes as the echidna turned his head to the side and grasped the trunk behind him. He could hear the branch groan and wood the creak, then a loud crack as the massive tree limb finally detached and fell towards the ground, leaving behind a trail of green leaves.

When the air was clear of flying splinters, Knuckles relaxed and peered down at the distant forest floor. The branch had landed close to his and Tails's improvised shelter, lifting water and mud everywhere as thin twigs broke from the severe impact. It would have been a terrifying spectacle to see from the bottom, and he hoped that Tails was ok despite the sudden appearance of this large wooden bomb.

Violet eyes narrowed slightly in a frown as the Guardian took another look at the surrounding forest in search of his friend Sonic and the not-so-friendly Shadow.

Nothing…

Still no sign of the two hedgehogs, and although the black hedgehog would be hard to spot because of the color of his pelt, the echidna was sure that he could still spot them if they were moving. After all, the forest was motionless beside the raging torrent of mud and the leaves of the occasional low tree or giant bush. The ground of the forest, beside those few elements, was barren. Even the enormous rock formations were far from each other.

Sighing in irritation, Knuckles glanced up at the sky. Although it was covered by the impenetrable canopy, he could still make out the light that came from it, and it was getting very late already. If that close to the treetops it was slightly dark, down to the ground it was quite dark. He was lucky that he had a good eyesight. Not like hedgehogs' or foxes', but still well developed thanks to his connection to the Master Emerald.

Flipping one leg over what remained of the branch, the Guardian sat sideways and let himself freely fall through the air until he was halfway down. He then spread his arms and legs and let his dreadlocked quills catch the air. The wind rushed through his body with an angry whistle and the rain hammered onto his back, but Knuckles was a master at gliding, and soon enough he was gently drifting towards the earth below, eventually landing between the fallen branch and the entrance to the shelter.

"Tails!" he called, voice raised above the normal tone so to be heard through the roar of the rain. He glanced inside, trying to have his eyes adjust faster than they could, and managed to make out the pile of dry bark sitting further inside than where he had previously put it. The young fox had probably moved it away from the entrance to prevent it from getting wet. The weather had become worse while he had been up there…

"Knuckles… is that you?"

The shaking voice of the boy came from the other end of the alcove, along a weak shuffling sound that were quickly lost to the fury of the wind that was picking up. When the fox finally realized that it was his friend and not a raging wild beast, he let out a sigh of relief and walked up to the red male, peering outside at the branch lying several feet in front of their shelter.

"You scared me!" he protested, almost pouting and becoming angry. "I thought it was a… a… something big that lived here!"

Tails's eyes were still wide and jerking left and right, in search of any possible danger, and the fur of his tails and back was standing on end, giving him the appearance of a giant fluffy plush. However, the frown on his mouth ruined the cute sight of the young boy.

Knuckles idly scratched the back of his head, feeling a bit embarrassed and guilty. "Sorry..." he quietly muttered, still not really being used to apologize to other people.

Upon hearing the apologize, the fox took a deep breath and slowly released it, relaxing and regaining his composure that was too mature for his age. His sky blue eyes looked up at the Guardian then moved to look at the large branch laying outside their shelter. He knew that the echidna wasn't good at apologizing, so that word barely muttered was enough for him. Besides, it was not that Knuckles liked to scare him to death...

"No sign of Sonic or Shadow?" Tails asked, noticing the echidna's awkward shifting. He wanted to end the tense silence as well as getting to know whether he had found any sign of the two hedgehogs.

"No, Tails." Knuckles replied, turning around to face the outside world too. "I've tried to look for them, but there's too much rain and the darkness is too thick to see beyond a couple of trees..."

The young fox sighed dejectedly, his ears flopping down. He had to agree with Knuckles... it was really dark now, and even with his sharp sight, the tree in front of them was a blurred shape while the next one was so faint that it almost blended with the background. Letting out a small murmur of unhappiness, Tails watched as the echidna walked under the rain again and grabbed the branch, starting to drag it as close to the alcove as he could.

"I'm going to break this to pieces before I lit the fire," he commented as he stopped a few feet from the entrance and broke several smaller branches off from the main one. "Is the pile of dry wood ready?"

Tails blinked out of his worried status and turned around to glance at the little mound of bark. It was two times bigger than when Knuckles had left it in his care, but he still felt that it wasn't enough. He was still collecting pieces of wood when he had been scared by the large tree-limb hitting the ground...

"I'll get more," the fox replied as he walked towards the circular wall and resumed peeling what he could. "The more, the better!"

Knuckles chuckled gently as he watched the young boy getting back to work. The kit, although as smart as he was, was still a kid at heart and he tried to hide and control his emotions and fears by keeping his mind busy with something. In this case collecting pieces of dry wood.

Once he made sure that Tails was ok, the Guardian placed a foot on top of the large branch and grabbed the broken end with both his hands. Tensing his muscles, he pulled upwards and felt the wood under him creak and shake, and when the material couldn't stand the strength of the pull anymore, it snapped with a loud sound.

Slightly jerking back once the piece of branch had broken, Knuckles found himself holding two feet of wooden limb in his hands. He examined it and grimaced, but set it to the side nonetheless. It was too long to be added to the future fire, but he would break it in two once he had the whole branch divided into similar pieces, bare of leaves and twigs.

Eventually, over half a hour passed, and Tails was done with his own task and was now dusting his hands and fur. Peeling stuff from the bark of the tree had warmed him up, but he was still wet, especially on his back and tails.

"Knuckles!" he called, moving back a step from the pile of dry bark.

Now it was one foot and a half tall and was about one wide. It was composed by creamy colored chips, most of them long a couple of inches, but sometimes there was a darker shaded one, meaning that the young boy had dug into the trunk of the tree a bit too much.

"I'm done, Knuckles!"

The echidna, still outside breaking the last pieces of wood into a reasonable size, tried to peer inside the alcove and see the completed job. By now, the darkness had become deeper and his eyes, as much as used to it that they were, couldn't peer inside the shelter, which was shrouded in deeper darkness.

"I'm coming, Tails," he said as he broke the last piece of wood and threw the resulting two into the pile next to the entrance that he had built in the previous half hour. There was enough wood to last the entire night and some of the morning, too..

Cold and wet, Knuckles walked inside the tree and bent his head to one side to let his dreads fall in front of him. They were heavy with water, but he used his large hands to squeeze the cold liquid off of them while he waited for his eyes to adjust to the new level of light within the alcove. He didn't have Tails's night vision, but he was slowly starting to be able to distinguish the young fox from the wall at his back.

"I got enough wood to last for the whole night and some of the morning," he explained as he tilted his head to the other side and repeated the procedure of squeezing water out of his red quills. "It's fresh wood so it's going to make a lot of smoke, but we won't be freezing and we'll be able to get dry more quickly than we would without a fire."

The young fox nodded his head, "I hope it's enough," he explained as he motioned the pile of peeled wood sitting in a place that wasn't close to the tree's trunk or its entrance. "There isn't much dry wood that I can easily take off from the inside of the tree…"

Knuckles, now with his eyes adjusted to the level of darkness within their shelter, grabbed a strand of dry wood from the future fireplace and kneeled onto the ground, dust and earth immediately getting attached to his legs and itching annoyingly. He then grabbed a small, polished stick that he had previously made out of a tiny branch and started to concentrate.

He wasn't sure who had taught him that trick, or if there had been someone to teach him, but he knew that by concentrating and focusing his energy onto the stick and hitting it onto the other piece with strength, the energy would explode and produce a flame, although tiny. Very handy when you had nothing but wet wood at your disposal.

When the echidna had collected the right amount of energy onto the tip of the stick, he sharply hit the two pieces of wood together and this produced a shower of sparks that gave life to a small flame. It gently danced into the air currents, created by the breaths of the two Mobians and its warm orange-yellow light cast the much of the darkness away.

The young fox turned his head away and groaned. Although he was glad that their refuge had lightened up, his eyes, used to the darkness, had hurt at the sudden shower of light.

"Are you ok, Tails?" Knuckles asked, concerned, as he carefully put the lit piece of wood at the bottom of the small pile. By gently blowing on it, the echidna soon started a larger fire that fully illuminated the alcove and released a sweet warmness that both creatures relaxed upon feeling.

"Yes, I was just taken by surprise. I'll be fine in a moment…"

Large hands grabbed Tails' smaller ones to stop the young boy from rubbing his eyes and the Guardian made him sit close to the warm fire. "Don't rub them, Tails," he warned with a soft voice, almost parental, "you'll only hurt yourself more."

The young fox paused and looked at the older male with squinting eyes. He had never heard Knuckles talk like that to anyone. He wondered if it was just the echidna's instinct kicking in or because his rival, Sonic, was absent so he was opening up more…

"Thanks…" he eventually replied, slowly getting used to the new level of light. Having a sharp night vision was a double edged weapon in the end. He could see very well in deep darkness, but it always took him a while to adjust to bright light, and if the change was sudden, he would be blind for as long as his eyes hurt.

The Guardian nodded and released Tails' hands, pausing only a moment to further check if he was really alright, then walked outside to quickly grab some wood. The fire had become strong enough to burn even the wet logs.

"Once it's morning, and depending on the weather, we'll set out in search of Sonic and Shadow, or at least the exit to this place." Knuckles explained as he placed the seven logs close to the fireplace, so that they would dry up a bit, while he slowly put the eighth on top of the fire.

Small pops and cracks resounded into the air as the water within the logs boiled, filling the refuge with a pungent scent and a veil of white smoke. But even if their noses tingled for the smell of green burning wood, the two Mobians were happy that it was warmer inside.

Tails' blue eyes gazed at the fire and the dancing flames and wriggling sparkles slowly drew the young boy's mind into a light trance. Sounds and voices resurfaced, soon followed by blurred and confused images. Unable to wake up from that vision, and feeling too detached from them to be scared, he let the memories return to him.

There had been a fight, savage and chaotic, with dangerous mechs, bullets and lasers flying around, trying to kill them and protect Eggman's latest invention. He, Tails, was hidden behind a secondary console, occasionally glancing at the battle, as he was working on turning the power off to all the machines in the room as fast as he could.

Knuckles was trying to do the same thing, only that he was using his fists, and seemed to have a bit more of luck in it. Every time one of his fists sunk into the weak metal of a component within the room, there was a loud whine and then the machinery stopped working. Unfortunately, these machines seemed to have nothing to do with the one that they had to stop, and this seemed to further frustrate the red echidna. Sometimes Tails could hear him scream in anger and tear to pieces anything that came within his reach.

He knew that there had been Sonic and Shadow too with them, but the memories of where they were and what they were doing was too blurred and confused. The few images that he could collect were too bright to make out anything, as if he had been staring directly at a white sun, and sounds were blotted out by this loud fizzling and crackling accompanied by an everlasting, horrible scream of pain.

"Tails! Are you ok?!"

When Knuckles' reassuring voice broke through his visions, the young boy found himself huddled on himself with his hands firmly pressed against his ears to block those awful sounds. He looked up at the Guardian with searching eyes, mouth faintly moving to form words that would not come out of his throat. The experience had been traumatic for him, and the more he tried to make heads and tails of what he had witnessed, the more he felt confused and worried.

The echidna placed his strong hands onto the kit's shoulders and the gesture seemed to calm the kid down. Still, Knuckles observed, Tails had troubles with coping with whatever he had remembered, so he sat down in front of his young friend, cross-legged, and gazed at him with the kindest eyes his experience permitted him to have.

Although he was far from being an expert on how to reassure a kid, his expression and relaxed stance helped the twin-tailed fox regain his voice and slow his breathing back to a normal pace. His orange fur was still all on end, though, giving Tails such a puffed up look that many would instantly awe at and crush the kid into a vicious hug of love.

"Are you ok, Tails?" the Guardian asked again, voice less concerned than before, but still worried for what had happened. "What happened?"

Sure, he was a loner and a tough warrior, but the young fox was his friend now, like it or not, and deep down he wanted to help him even if he didn't know how.

Tails took several moments before he was able to reply to the questions he had been given, and during this time his eyes looked everywhere but towards Knuckles. It was a sign of uncertainty, the echidna knew, so he remained silent and waited for the other to feel ready to talk.

"Knuckles…" Tails eventually managed to say with soft voice, "The scream… Do you remember who was screaming?"

The echidna paused and focused on his memories. He could remember entering that awful and dark base with Tails, Sonic, and Shadow, he could remember following the blue hedgehog as he navigated through the place by merely following his instinct, but he also found out that the more he advanced within his memory, the more those memories became blurred and scattered, eventually leaving only few bright images and confused sounds.

"I… can remember fighting something…" he stated, brow furrowed, "but everything else is… confused… too confused to make out something…"

It felt so strange for Knuckles to not be able to remember a fight. He was someone that could notice small things and remember them years later, but this time his memory just failed him. Maybe meditation could help him remember…

"I remember being behind a console, trying to shut down everything…" Tails resumed, making the Guardian snap out of his thoughts and focus back onto him. "You were taking your anger and frustration out onto whatever came in front of you, be it just a piece of machinery or a robot. And then… and then there was this scream…"

The young fox rubbed at his temples, trying to sedate his oncoming headache as he tried to better visualize what he could remember. "The next thing I remember is waking up in this forest…"

Violet eyes watched intently for a few seconds longer, then the echidna stood up and grabbed a log from the pile of wood he had carried inside before Tails had screamed. A swing of his arm later, and the piece of branch landed into the fire, popping and fizzling as soon as the water in it reached the boiling point.

"I think our confused memories and partial loss of them are connected to what happened inside that room…" Knuckles said as he went back to sit next to the kit. "Perhaps it was what took us here…"

Tails turned his head to look at the Guardian and gently hummed in thought. The older male had a point when he said that their memories had been twisted by whatever it had been…

"Could it be… could it be a Chaos Control that took us here?"

Silence fell between the two for several seconds as the echidna considered this new possibility. Tails could be right because, although Chaos Energy was something that could do anything, like destroy or create, the only thing that he knew that could carry them from one point of the planet to another the way they had been was indeed the Chaos Control that the two hedgehogs had mastered over time.

But had this Chaos Control been accidental or had it been made on purpose by Sonic, or Shadow, to save them from something worse than a memory loss?

"I'm worried about Sonic, Knuckles…" Tails said after a while, breaking the silence, "I know he can take care of him, same with Shadow, but…"

Knuckles couldn't blame the young boy for being worried. Both hedgehogs were their friends, even if one was a pest and the other was more of a loner, and even he, the seasoned Guardian of Angel Island who had lived his entire life alone until some years ago, was worried.

His mitted hands clenched as he looked out of their shelter's entrance, eyes narrowed at the darkness. "They'll be fine, Tails…" He wasn't that sure of it himself, but Sonic and Shadow had to be fine, or they wouldn't be who they were.

The young fox nodded his head and sighed, knowing that worrying wouldn't help. "You are right. They'll be fine. It's Sonic and Shadow we're talking about, after all." He smiled a bit and shifted closer to the fireplace, loving the warmth that it gave off.

Eventually, hours passed with them idly chatting from time to time about things like food, old battles or new inventions by the young fox. Knuckles hardly understood what Tails would talk about when he was mentioning his discoveries in the engineering field, but he politely listened anyway and tried his best to appear interested. No wonder Sonic quickly tired when the kid was talking… there were hundreds of technical words that only he understood...

Tails, however, was fond of everything the echidna told him. From legends to how he could track the Master Emerald down from any point of the planet. The kid, the Guardian observed, surely loved to learn new things, and this made him smile a little despite their situation…

"So the Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds have a different energy signature despite being composed by the same energy?"

"Yeah," Knuckles replied, nodding his head and making his dreaded quills gently dance in the air. "Although they have the same energy principle, the Master Emerald's energy is different from the seven Chaos Emeralds, like two sides of the same coin. They are two different things, but they are part of the same---"

The Guardian suddenly stopped his explanation and stood up, facing the darkness that pervaded the outside world. He couldn't see nor hear anything, but his ability to sense Chaos Energy told him that there was something heavy with it that was moving towards them. Perhaps it was one of their friends holding a Chaos Emerald, but he wasn't ruling out the possibility that it could be very well something else…something big and deadly…

After all, Mobius, the same planet that the humans called 'Earth' for a reason he didn't know nor was interested in, was filled with creatures infused with the mystical energy of the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic was one of them, but Chaos, the watery creature that his people referred to as the 'God of Destruction,' was the perfect example that fit the category.

Tails had gone from his chipper self to a worried little creature that hung around the protection the fire gave. "Knuckles..?" he asked, voice low in an unconscious effort to not attract whatever the echidna had felt, "who's there?"

His vulpine ears moved forwards to full attention when a loud rustle reached his fine hearing despite the loud rain, then, within seconds, they were folded back against his skull, his racing heart booming into them while his tails swished nervously behind him, ready to rotate and make their owner airborne at the smallest danger.

Knuckles did not reply, but his fists tightened as he readied them for a possible fight, until…

Until something glinted faintly into the darkness and rain, reflecting the warm light of the hearth and illuminating small details of the surroundings for a brief moment. Leaves, rocks and wood were showered in a gentle golden yellow glow, and the Guardian paused in his worry. The color he had just seen for a brief moment reminded him of something he knew well but that were rare to find.

Rings…

But although rings could explain the Chaos Energy source, they would only spin in place and not move through space unless they were moved. Moving them, however, required special machinery that only Eggman himself had, and as much as he focused, the echidna couldn't hear any noise coming from a machine.

Curious as to what it was, Knuckles grabbed a small log that was burning at one end from the fire and walked back to the entrance, moving the makeshift torch to see better. The glint reappeared in a different position than before, and when it lit the surroundings for a bit longer, his purple eyes caught a figure carrying the shiny object.

The moment of visibility had been really brief, but it was all it took for the Guardian to recognize who it had been before said person slipped on the ground and disappeared behind something, taking with him the source of the glinting.

Calm and collected as ever, but with racing heart, Knuckles threw the log he was holding back into the fire and rushed out of the shelter with a reassuring word to Tails that everything was fine. As he quickly navigated through the rain and natural obstacles, the echidna finally reached his destination and let his eyes adjust to the new level of darkness.

Shadow was hanging onto a small branch belonging to a bush with his right hand while his feet were trying to find a hold onto the muddy slope, without success. He was tired and shivering from the cold, but he was firmly set on not letting his grasp go. Neither on that branch nor on what -or better, who- he was holding with his other hand.

Not wasting any more precious seconds, the Guardian grabbed the hedgehog's stretched arm by the wrist and, once he felt that his feet were firmly planted onto the ground, he pulled the black male up and onto the solid surface of the rock formation he was standing on.

With all the darkness surrounding them, Knuckles had no idea of how Shadow was, but the loud grunt and the heaped posture hinted that the hedgehog was wounded, or at least hurting enough for the pain to be nearly unbearable. He would have offered help, but he knew that dark colored male would have brushed it off with a loud snort.

Instead, his gloved hands reached for what Shadow was holding so firmly and pulled up, finding himself face to face with another creature that he knew well. His voice filled the air with his name and the other hedgehog looked up, red eyes shining faintly into the darkness with Chaos Energy.

"He's been…" he paused to cough, "…unconscious since I woke up…"

His voice sounded weak and tired, and the echidna looked back at him with veiled concern. The explosion and whatever had happened next had took an heavier toll on him than both him and Tails put together. Knuckles's brow frowned as he watched the black and red streaked hedgehog lay down onto the uncomfortable rock on his left side, breathing shallowly.

In the extremely dim light that shone from the shelter, located not so far away from where they where standing, the echidna noticed an odd line running from the middle of his side to down close to his right knee. Puzzled, Knuckles crouched down and hovered a hand over the hedgehog's body to touch the strange detail, but was halted by Shadow himself, who weakly swatted the offending appendage away.

"Don't touch me…" he murmured, slowly sitting up, "I can take care of myself…"

Grunting again, Shadow regained a sitting position and blearily looked down at his hands. One was limply resting against his left thigh while the other, the right one, was still clasped around his friend and rival's wrists. It was as if his fingers were cemented in that position and his nerves had been cut off…

Fighting the urge to lay down and sleep, the dark colored hedgehog forced his fingers open and let go of Sonic's arm, feeling a sudden drop in his energy, making him realize that he had been using the other hedgehog's own energy to stay conscious and aimlessly trudge through the flooding forest without feeling pain.

Now that the physical connection with his close rival had been severed, his right side was burning in pain, flesh uncomfortably pulling at lacerated nerves and blood copiously gushing out anew. It looked like Sonic's enormous supply of Chaos Energy, even if turbulent and angry, was doing more than just keeping him awake and walking.

Shadow slowly turned his head to look at the illuminated shelter and mused how easy he could reach it if he grabbed Sonic again. The blood would stop and he would be able to stand again…

Yet, as much as he told himself to reach out for Sonic's arm, his mind simply found itself focusing on how blurred the orange light of the fire was becoming. He would fight it and for a few seconds the world returned to be as sharp as usual, but every time he attained a clear image, his eyes unfocused again and more than before.

Confused and tired, Shadow returned his gaze back to where he knew the Guardian was standing, finding nothing but darkness and a faint voice calling to him. The words were distant and incomprehensible, but he had the clear feeling that the red echidna was trying to keep him awake. Knuckles was shaking him too, but he was so out of it that to him it felt more lulling than waking.

It wasn't long until his eyes dropped shut and his mind slipped into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Yellow-white light filled his unfocused vision, bright but not painful. Swirly wisps of glittering mist fluttered and waved around, always out of his reach, taunting him with their hypnotizing games of tag and synchronized dances. There was no real direction and everything was up, down, left and right, like in space. Unlike the cold vacuum of the universe, though, the place he was floating in was filled with debris – from the smallest rocks to the largest boulders, trees and even a rundown house with a wild-looking garden – that were flying everywhere, following various paths and sometimes colliding with each other, either reducing themselves to dust or joining together to create a larger masses.

It was slightly disturbing to see how much wild chaos there was within that strange place, but he wasn't afraid of it. Besides, he was feeling too sleepy and comfortable to bother with thoughts that involved his death, or him becoming insane. He liked the place, felt at peace with himself and at home, and there was no pain, only a distant stiffness in his muscles and a memory of a headache.

Tired of his blurred vision, the hedgehog closed his eyes , barely acknowledging that something was approaching him. He suddenly felt hot and he groaned, bringing his left hand up and trying to ward the heat off with little success, twisting his body and trying to escape. But he was too weak to move and, within the strange space, it seemed like he couldn't be able to run away. Many voices, faint and distant, surrounded him and called his name, beckoning him to do things he could not understand.

Then, suddenly, the air became heavy and his lungs struggled against the pressure, transforming the peaceful moment into a nightmare. He was feeling like he was trying to breathe underwater or was falling through the planet's atmosphere again, and he had no strength to fight the awful feeling off. But as he felt that he was close to falling into oblivion, the pressure was wiped away by a presence that he didn't recognize, but at the same time felt familiar.

"Shadow…."

The voice had the strange effect of feeling like it was one, but at the same time more than one. He felt confused by it, but the tone of whomever was talking to him was gentle and soothing, something that reminded him of Maria, his lost friend.

"Shadow, come…."

Even with his eyes closed, he could feel the space around him shift and change. The floating objects disappeared in a twisted lurch, the colors faded away and the warm, chaotic light was replaced with a cool, calm darkness.

"We do not wish to harm you."

Shadow almost rolled his eyes and scoffed. "I know that," he rasped out, pausing and wondering if he should open his eyes and see exactly where he was now. He didn't know how he could understand the intentions of this voice composed by many, but he was too tired to even try to understand it. All that mattered now was that he was at peace and there was no pain. "Who are you and what you want?"

For a strange reason, he knew that the owner – owners? – of the voice was smiling in amusement. "Always to the point, aren't you?"

Growling lightly under his breath, the hedgehog forced his eyes open to look at whomever was speaking and found himself halting every movement and every thought.

The black expanse he was in revealed more than just a dark, cool and calm emptiness. Small, glittering dots randomly hung in the distance, sometimes close to each other to create a cluster, sometimes so far away from each other that felt somewhat lonely to stare at. At his left there was some sort of misty formation that ranged from dark brown – almost dark red – to dark green or dark blue; and under him, motionless like everything else, a giant spiraling form of brilliant dots of red, blue, and yellow lights.

"Shadow!"

The vision disappeared with a silent pop and his blurred eyes focused onto what appeared to be the inside of a small cavern made of wood. A crackling fire to his right provided the enclosed place with warmth and light, making it more homey.

Confusion and dizziness enveloped his mind and the dream he just had faded away, leaving him empty of something. However, even if the memories were slowly fading away into oblivion, the dream left the feeling of peace so deeply rooted in him that, in the end, he couldn't help but feel relaxed and untroubled.

"Where…?"

His voice was raspy and tired, and his throat hurt with every little movement. Even swallowing what little saliva he had in his mouth was painful. Moving his body wasn't any easier than talking because of his stiff and tired muscles and the dull ache pervading his right side.

"I'm not exactly sure, but I believe we are somewhere within the Emerald Forest," Knuckles's voice was calm and collected as he kneeled next to the hedgehog. "And you shouldn't move," he added as he caught the black hedgehog trying to sit up.

"What do you mean, I 'shouldn't move'?"

Shadow wasn't a hedgehog that would be stopped by dull pain, but as the Guardian placed a hand on his left shoulder to halt his progress, he paused and looked up at the echidna with a raised eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.

"I mean it, Shadow." Knuckles took his hand away and pointed at the hedgehog's right side. "Not only will you be in pain, but your wound could reopen itself, and you can't afford losing more blood than you already have. Ultimate Life Form _or_ not. And don't touch it," the echidna's violet eyes narrowed to tiny slits as he slapped a wandering hand away from the tender flesh. "Cauterizing it helped with the loss of blood, but, sadly, the downside is that you have nasty burns."

Shadow stared at him with a matching expression, disgruntled at how he was being treated. No one told him what to do, but when he tried to defy the Guardian's words and sit up, he had to agree that it was best to lay down and remain immobile. The pain from his right side was searing and he was left concentrating on not losing his composure and screaming.

Still, Knuckles caught his distress and let out a small sigh. "Told you," he commented as he stood up and looked down at the wounded hedgehog with crossed arms. "Look, I'm not keen on leaving you alone, especially with the others still not awake, but I need to go out and see if I can find something to eat."

Shadow began to growl softly, but stopped short and nodded. Food sounded extremely good at that moment .

The echidna stared at the prone hedgehog for several long moments, frowning as he thought about if it was really a good idea to leave him without someone else keeping an eye on him. He had tried to wake Tails up so that the responsible kid could take care of whatever could happen, but the young fox was too exhausted, and Sonic…well, he doubted Sonic could be awakened at all.

Amethyst eyes turned to look at Sonic, who was laying on the other side of the fire. He absolutely had no clue what had happened to him, but the end result was that he had been "locked" in his "super form" and the effect didn't seem to wear off at all despite the unconscious status Sonic had been in for hours.

Sonic was currently floating a few inches from the ground, his golden fur reflecting light everywhere and illuminating the shelter more than the fire could . He appeared peaceful, but not the usual relaxed and happy peacefulness; it was an odd sort of peace, as if the world wasn't touching him. Even the floating dust seemed to avoid him, leaving the empowered creature perfectly clean

Knuckles had tried to wake him up, but when he had touched him, Sonic felt like he wasn't completely within their world, stuck between their plane and somewhere else. Present, but at the same time, not. And that had weirded him out so much that he had instantly took his hand away.

Knuckles was worried, because the only thing -or better, things- that had felt that way were the Chaos Emeralds. They were physically within their dimension, but at the same time, part of them was located somewhere else. Still, when he had gone super himself, the echidna had never felt like he was on more than one plane of existence, nor had he felt Sonic being like this when they had fought together against Metal Sonic, when he had granted them part of his powers.

Humming under his breath, the Guardian promised himself that he would discover what was happening as soon as he was back from his hunt. "Try to not move, Shadow," he said again, this time more of an advice than a command. "I will probably be out for a few hours, but I might be back sooner or later than that. It all depends on what I find and when I find it."

"Fine by me," the black hedgehog grunted in reply, placing his left hand on his stomach and gently massaging the skin with his fingers to relieve some of the soreness located close to the long wound on his side.

Knuckles nodded and turned to leave. The two of them weren't the best at communicating, especially with each other. Sonic was the guy that made them talk, and without him poking and pressing buttons, they just kept to themselves. That was the reason why Shadow's reply didn't bother him at all despite the annoyed tone it seemed to have.

Knuckles walked out of the alcove and through the rain, leaving Shadow alone with two unconscious Mobians. Not that Shadow was bothered by the lack of activity; it gave him time to think and brood about what he considered important.

Like not being able to remember the past couple of days. Even the dream that had left in him a sense of being really important was fading into oblivion, leaving him frustrated and restless. Yet, despite hating the fact that he was prone to amnesias, the black hedgehog rubbed his eyes with his left hand and sighed, calming down. Months ago, after the whole Black Arms ordeal had been solved, he had promised himself that he wouldn't brood about lost memories and, at least this time, the memories that were lost were of a couple of days, not years.

Red eyes stared at the empty air for long seconds, then Shadow turned his head to look at the fire. Sometimes he could see specks of reds and oranges dance amongst the burning logs. It was a spectacle that reminded him of the alien attack on Westopolis, but at the same time, it was different. While Westopolis's fires were wild and dangerous, this was controlled and warm, bringing him a feeling of safety that he could rarely feel.

A shifting and a murmur brought him back to reality, and Shadow found himself quickly glancing towards the source of the sounds he was hearing. They were coming from the other side of the fireplace, but because of the burning wood blocking his view, he couldn't distinguish whether it was Tails or Sonic.

Unable to see who it was or sit up, Shadow waited for whoever was waking up to make the first move. There was the sound of something dropping onto the ground, then another light murmur soon followed by stirring.

"Has anyone taken the number of the train that hit me?"

Shadow almost rolled his eyes at what the other hedgehog had groggily said, but he was secretly relieved that someone was finally awake. Even if it was that annoying blue hedgehog by the name of Sonic…

"Took your sweet time to wake up, Faker," he called to Sonic. Don't tell me that Eggman did manage to hit you good…."

There was a long moment of silence filled with more shuffling, then a light snort. "Shut up. You know how much I can withstand, so, whatever Eggman did, it was big." A brief pause and Sonic looked around, confused. "How did we get here anyway?"

Shadow glanced at the fire and tried to see past it to look the other in the face. When he could see nothing but flames, he turned his gaze upwards once again. "I'm not exactly sure. Probably a Chaos Control."

No way he was going to reveal that he was being affected by amnesia again. Especially not to his rival. He just hoped that this time it would be a temporary condition and that his memories would come back soon. He hated not having answers. It made him feel helpless, and that was something he hated even more.

"I can't remember a Chaos Control...." As much as he tried, Sonic couldn't feel troubled at all by the lack of memories, and because of that, his voice was light and free of worry. "I actually can't remember what happened. I remember we infiltrated Eggman's base, but after that, things get hazy and then completely black until now. How long have I been out?"

Ignoring the sudden urge to question the other about his lack of memories regarding their recent fight, the black hedgehog hummed gently to himself in thought. "Perhaps a couple of days, I'm not sure. You should ask the Guardian."

Silence filled their shelter again, which, strangely enough, unnerved Shadow more than it was supposed to. Shadow was left to wonder why the talkative hedgehog on the other side of the fire was being so withdrawn and not freely speaking his mind like he usually did . If Sonic wasn't being Sonic, then something was wrong.

"Where's Knuckles?"

The sudden question almost startled Shadow out of his skin. "Out hunting for food," he replied emotionlessly, resisting the itching need to cross his arms to avoid disturbing his still fresh wound.

"Shadow?"

The black hedgehog mentally groaned, torn between being glad that Sonic was being his annoying self once again after his brief spell of quietness, and being bothered by it. Of all the _few_ people he knew, he had to be stuck with Sonic and his best friend who was too deep asleep to wake up and entertain Sonic.

"What?"

"You ok? You haven't moved from where you are laying since I've woken up..."

Sonic's voice was genuinely worried and Shadow's annoyance melted away with a single deep breath, leaving him as weary as he had been when he had woken up. He didn't reply at first, but listened to the small sounds that filled the air until Sonic stood up and walked around the fire.

"Shadow...?"

Now Sonic's voice was a mix of confusion and worry as he kneeled next to him, watching as the black hedgehog closed his eyes. Despite not being the best person to deal with the wounded and comfort them, especially the very introvert ones, he placed a hand onto Shadow's shoulder and gave a very gentle, and hopefully reassuring, squeeze.

Although he hated the contact, Shadow couldn't help but feel relieved when the pain and soreness ebbed away, leaving his mind in a state of drowsed peace. Both fortunately and unfortunately, however, the moment lasted only until Sonic took his hand away from his shoulder, abruptly waking him up.

"I'm fine, hedgehog. Leave me alone," he answered as he inwardly fought against the returning pain.

"Sheesh, Shadow. I just want to know how you are...." The blue hedgehog sounded annoyed as he plopped on the ground, cross-legged. "What's up with you anyway? Loosen up a bit, will you?"

Shadow growled in his throat and made the mistake of rolling on his left side to sit up to face Sonic. The gasp that left his mouth was loud and echoed through the shelter as he bent forwards and put a hand on the fresh scar on his side.

It hurt, terribly, and for a moment the black hedgehog was left with the feeling that any more movement would reopen the wound Knuckles had so carefully sealed with fire. But then the pain was gone and his side felt like it had never been damaged in the first place. Free of the agonizing pain once again, Shadow slowed his breathing to a regular pace, and promptly realized that two hands were clasping his shoulders, steadying and preventing him from collapsing to the ground in an uncomfortable heap.

"Shadow, you're... hurt."

"Tell me something I don't know, hedgehog," Shadow grunted in reply as he tried to swat Sonic's hands away, but had no will to do so. Instead, he secretly reveled into the peace

"You know, you should take it easy..."

Sonic sounded and looked unhappy, but the black hedgehog wasn't listening anymore. As his red eyes finally rested onto the form of his rival, small pieces of an unseen puzzle slowly came together enough for him to understand why the contact with the rival numbed the pain. It was the same feeling he had when he came in physical contact with a Chaos Emerald.

His red eyes looked up and down the new, yet old appearance of the other hedgehog, recognizing it instantly, but at the same time feeling that there was something different. Something so subtle that he couldn't figure out. The fur was of the same golden color as whenever the hedgehog used the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds, and the eyes were of the same shade of red that spoke of infinite power. But it was when he looked into those ruby eyes that he had to use all of his willpower to not back away. There was something unnerving within them, something that did not belong to the real world.

He closed his eyes and sighed in tired annoyance. "Has no one taught you about personal space?" he countered weakly, torn between punching Sonic for touching him and let him hold his shoulder so the pain remained nonexistent.

Sonic theatrically rolled his eyes and helped the black hedgehog lay down again. "I just want to help you, Shadow. Why can't you just accept it?"

Shadow glared at him. "I didn't ask for your help. Besides, I believe you have a bigger problem to take care of."

Sonic's face morphed from nervous to confused. "A bigger problem?" he asked, tilting his head slightly to the side and blinking at Shadow almost stupidly. "What bigger problem?"

The black hedgehog narrowed his eyes, but instead of hitting his look-alike, he sighed and let the other lay him down back onto the ground, this time a bit closer to the fire, without protesting. "Haven't you seen the condition you are in?" he asked, snorting.

When Shadow was laying on the ground, Sonic slightly moved backwards to let the other have his private space and looked even more confused. "Conditions? What conditions? I feel fine...."

The black hedgehog sighed deeply and mentally counted to three before glaring at his rival. "Look at yourself, Faker."

At hearing for the second time the nickname Shadow had given him, Sonic narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "You know, I have a name. I'd like if you would use it," he said as he poked the other on the shoulder. "I never called you that way after the whole Ark incident got solved."

Red eyes disappeared behind black eyelids and Shadow sighed gently. "Just... look at yourself, Sonic. Perhaps you're not as fine as you think...."

Sonic frowned in confusion, but decided that protesting or asking for a clear explanation from his rival would be way too hard to accomplish than just looking at himself. Not having a mirror to look at his face with, however, he stood up and looked down at his body, pausing several seconds.

"Hey, aren't I supposed to be blue?"

"You see now?" Shadow asked, not opening his eyes and trying to go back to sleep. He wasn't going to ask Sonic to block out his pain, so he decided that falling asleep was the best alternative. "You have a bigger problem to think about. So leave me alone."

The unnerving silence lasted for long seconds as Sonic was left confused and lost. "Shadow... do you... do you know what happened?"

Mentally screaming in frustration, Shadow silently cursed the golden hedgehog for his inappropriate question and resisted the urge to turn his back to him. "No. And now leave me alone."

The dry answer made Sonic understand that Shadow had decided to close their conversation there and then. Grumbling something under his breath about ultimate life forms and their sour moods, the hedgehog stretched and left Shadow alone. Why Shadow defined his conditions a big problem was beyond his comprehension. Sure, his fur was gold and his eyes probably of a ruby red, but he felt fine. Actually, better than fine. He hadn't felt so great in a very long time.

"Fine," he muttered loudly enough for the black hedgehog to hear as he turned around to face his best friend still sleeping next to the fire. "I'll leave you alone."

Pausing only a moment to give Shadow the chance to say something else, Sonic made his way around the fire and next to Tails, crouching down to check how the kit was doing. Besides his dirty fur and a few scratches here and there, he looked fine. Just worn out.

Glad that the young fox was okay, Sonic sat down next to him and sighed. Even if he didn't want to admit it, he had to agree with Shadow. The fact that he couldn't remember what had happened - how he had ended up absorbing the Chaos Emerald's energy and why he hadn't powered down already - was a problem. Not something he would worry about when his friends were hurt - yes, despite all, Shadow was his friend - and they were all lost somewhere in the world, stuck within the hollowed trunk of a giant tree.

"Well, no need to worry now. I'll figure something out soon. Between Tails and Knuckles, I'm sure it won't take long to understand what happened," he muttered to himself, stretching out and flopping down onto the ground, one leg over the other and his arms behind his head to cushion it.

.

* * *

.

It was only a couple of hours later when Knuckles finally came back, awakening both hedgehogs from their naps. He was drenched from head to toe, his dreadlocked quills heavily dripping with water, and was carrying a bundle of leaves in his arms. With every step he took, his shoes made a faint squishy noise, and as he made his way to the fire to warm up and dry himself, he left behind a visible trail of water on the dusty ground.

"You're awake," he stated in a matter-of-fact as he watched Sonic stand up from his spot and wave at him. "How are you feeling?"

The golden hedgehog tilted his head slightly to the side. "Why is everyone asking me how I feel? Do I look like I have a wide gash on my side?" His voice was a mix of annoyance, sarcasm and confusion. "Seriously, I'm fine. You should ask Shadow if he's fine. He doesn't want to admit that he's in pain." He loosely pointed to the other hedgehog with his thumb.

Said black hedgehog was glaring at his rival. "I'm fine, hedgehog. Stop bothering me," he growled, gritting his teeth as he tried to sit up despite Knuckles's earlier words and the pain from his side.

The Guardian looked at the two as he placed the bundle of large leaves near the fire and started to get rid of the extra water on his fur and quills. "Stubborn hedgehogs..." he mumbled out to himself. He didn't care if the two rivals heard him, nor if they considered it as an insult.

Which Sonic did. "Hey..!" But he didn't continue protesting. Instead, he scurried around the fire and crouched next to the bundle Knuckles had carried inside. "What did you find?" he asked as he poked and prodded at the vines tying the leaves together.

Knuckles's left eye was almost twitching. "Will you stop being so annoying?"

Sonic simply ignored him with a roll of his eyes and hastily unwrapped the bundle, revealing several fruits that varied in shape and color, and what seemed to be an oversized critter. Not wanting to taste raw meat, he reached for a large round blue fruit and nibbled at it, his mood instantly lifted by its refreshing taste.

"By the way, what's up with the size? Everything here is giant. Trees, fruits," he poked at the critter with a finger, feeling disgusted at seeing a dead creature in front of him. Even if he accepted death and ate meat, that didn't mean that he liked seeing something like a deceased rat-thing, especially if he had to eat it. "Animals... Knuckles, do you really think I'm going to eat that?"

The Guardian sighed heavily and grabbed the creature from the bundle of fruit and turned away, doing what any hunter would do to cook a freshly captured prey. "If you don't like it, don't eat it," he grunted. "The meat is for Tails. If I remember correctly, even if he can eat fruits and vegetables, he needs meat to get the needed energy for the day."

Sonic turned his back to Knuckles, and, grabbing a few more pear-like fruits, walked to Shadow and, still upset with him, almost dumped the food on his chest. "Don't bother," he waved a hand in the air dismissively. "I'm not helping you. I'm just doing this so I won't have to help you when you stand up and double over in pain when you try to reach for something to eat."

The black hedgehog gritted his teeth, but refrained from verbally retaliating. There was a sense in what Sonic had said and if he thought the same way, Shadow could believe that the other hedgehog wasn't helping him, but merely preventing from having to help him.

It was with that thought that he grabbed a fruit and stared at it. It was two times bigger than any other fruit he had seen, and if he hadn't nailed it with his small claws, the pear would've rolled out of his grasp as soon as it was held vertically. The fruit, a bright yellow color, was soft and, by the scent coming from it, it seemed to contain a lot of sugared water. Perfect for helping him heal faster.

Ignoring the pain that shook his body every time he moved, he brought the fruit to his mouth and started to eat it. At first he was slow and collected, but with every bite he took he became increasingly faster. He hadn't realized how hungry he had been until the first bite reached his stomach.

It was only after two large fruits had been consumed within a few minutes that the black hedgehog felt satiated. Glancing at the other two Mobians, however, he noticed that Sonic was still on his first fruit while Knuckles was starting on his second giant grape. It was so odd to see the golden hedgehog not be as hungry as he usually was.

A murmur filled the air and three pair of eyes moved onto the shifting form of the young fox. After several moments Tails sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. His nose twitched at the scent of cooking meat, and his stomach immediately growled loudly.

His azure eyes then locked onto the ruby eyes of his best friend and the thought of eating was forgotten. "Sonic!" he exclaimed, standing up so fast that he almost jumped into the air. "You're awake! You're ok!"

Sonic smiled at the enthusiasm showed by the kid and waved at him. "Hey, Tails. Nice to see you awake! Want something to eat?"

Ignoring Sonic's peculiar conditions, Tails rushed up to him and the echidna and crouched in front of the several fruits. He pointed at them all in turn a couple of times, then picked a round green one with rough skin and nibbled at it before staring at it in contemplation. Its taste was something that lingered between sweet and watery, and even if it wasn't the young fox's favorite flavor, he appreciated the mix and finished it without a word.

"I'm glad you're alive, Sonic," he spoke softly, almost afraid of saying something terribly wrong. "I thought... I don't know... I can't remember clearly, but someone was screaming. It was horrible..."

Sonic turned to face Tails and stared. "It must have been Shadow..." he said, sitting down and starting to play with the half eaten fruit in his hand. "As you can see, I'm perfectly fine. Well, counting out the weird fact that I can't power down, anyway. But really, I'm fine. No need to worry."

Tails nodded and wiped his eyes, wiping away the few tears that had dared to fall. Sonic's reassuring voice always did wonders with taking care of his worries.

Nodding, the kit turned his head to face the golden hedgehog and smiled. "Yeah, no need to worry. But... Sonic?" Here he frowned and fully turned around to face the hedgehog. "How is it that you haven't powered down? I thought that you couldn't sustain this kind of power for too long...."

Happy to see his little brother back in his analytic aspect, Sonic shrugged and shook his head in resignation. "I don't know, Tails," he replied as he sat down next to him and played with a piece of cold coal. "I woke up this way. I can't even remember what happened after we infiltrated Eggman's base."

Tails turned his head to look at the echidna sitting a bit to the side, not really participating in the conversation, but listening closely nonetheless. "Knuckles, what do you think happened? Could the loss of memory be some sort of side effect caused by... whatever happened before we ended up here?"

A red eyebrow lifted and the Guardian hummed for a few seconds before he looked at the kit. "It could be... I don't remember clearly either, but if a huge amount of Chaos Energy was released, the massive outburst could have caused a partial loss of memory. I don't know, however, if it'll be temporary or permanent. I'm leaning for temporary, though."

Enraptured by the short, yet revealing answer given by Knuckles, the young fox nodded his head and gave him his full attention. "A massive outburst of Chaos Energy? Could it have been caused by Sonic powering up? Eggman was in possession of all seven Chaos Emeralds...."

"Normally, harnessing Chaos Energy directly from the emeralds doesn't produce such devastating effects, but..." Here Knuckles paused and thought carefully about how it could be possible that something stable enough to be used without too much thought regarding danger could have turned out so catastrophic. "But if whatever machine Eggman had used on the emeralds had collected a huge amount of energy from them, it could be possible that Sonic using the Chaos Emeralds could have triggered the collected energy into blowing up, causing an uncontrolled Chaos Control amongst other weird effects."

It made sense, Tails decided. "And part of that amount could have been shifted into Sonic instead of blowing up, granting him a prolonged period of time he could remain powered up," he concluded, snapping his fingers into the air while his eyes shone with accomplishment.

The moment of triumph, however, was disturbed by a cough and a wave of a hand. "Hello, I'm here, remember?" Sonic spoke, feeling left out. "I'm glad you're enjoying all the scientific explanation and theories behind the workings of Chaos Energy, but...I don't feel any surplus of energy. Actually..." he paused and tilted his head, looking pensive. "I can barely feel it...."

"Don't say absurdities, hedgehog," Shadow suddenly spoke, idly watching his hand play with the core of the fruit he had devoured. "I could feel it when you touched me. A huge amount of it. Just like a Chaos Emerald. Infinite power trapped within a small vessel."

His red eyes moved from his improvised toy to stare directly into Sonic's. "Why don't you use this power to just take us out of this hellhole?"

Baffled, the golden hedgehog stared at his rival for several seconds before shaking his head and crossing his arms. "I told you, Shadow; I barely feel it. And I know that no amount of concentration will help me harness it."

He placed the half eaten fruit back with the others and stood up abruptly. "I'm going to take a quick run around here. I'll be back soon, don't worry." And before anyone could protest his decision, he left in a quick jog, disappearing into the forest.

Running through the rain, he discovered, wasn't being the usual hassle it had always been, and the mud on the ground didn't seem to hinder his footing at all. Despite the fact that he was still touching the ground with each step he took, Sonic felt like he was hovering instead of running, and that gave him an odd sense of euphoria. If before he loved running because it gave him a sense of freedom and massive rushes of adrenaline, now he felt like he was rediscovering the joy of darting from place to place, skillfully jumping and sidestepping obstacles.

He stopped on top of a rocky formation and stared at the surroundings, marveling at the colors and taking in the particular scent of wet wood and mud like he never had before. Crouching down onto his haunches, the golden hedgehog looked down at a large leaf and watched as the rain slowly dripped on it, following the veins and tears in small rivulets.

He knew that it was a mundane thing, that there was nothing new with it, but for some reason, Sonic felt enraptured by the sight. He stared it for long minutes until his attention got captured by a beautiful song. Lifting his eyes away from the leaf, the golden hedgehog turned just in time to see a bird that he had never seen before fly through the trees.

The creature's feathers ranged from vivid yellow on its body to intense red on the wings, tail and head. They glittered each time the animal moved, seemingly setting it aflame while its deep blue eyes scanned the forest from its vantage point.

When the creature sang, the ethereal melody echoed into the forest as clearly as a bell would do in a small, quiet town. Sonic became fascinated with the animal, feeling some sort of familiarity coming from it, but as he pondered at why he felt that way, the bird disappeared into the forest as it came, leaving an odd cold behind.

The golden hedgehog shivered and shook his head, getting rid of the spell of wonderment he had gained from the bird. He stood up and, even if he had taken several twisting turns, turned towards the direction he had come from without hesitation. Since he had awakened in that sort of condition, he felt that his sense of direction had sharpened to the point that he felt he could pick the right direction even if he was locked into a room without windows.

Throwing one last glance towards where the bird had disappeared , Sonic shook his head and chuckled as he jumped down from his rocky perch and started to jog towards where his friends were taking shelter from the persistent rain. Perhaps Shadow was right. Even if he felt fine and better than usual, the fact that he would stop running - which was his favorite thing - to watch rain dribble down a leaf was something uncharacteristic of him.

He mindlessly sidestepped a tree and jumped over a fallen one, then stopped abruptly, warily looking at the air. He felt the skin along his spine crawl and had to close his eyes and take deep breaths to calm himself. He felt divided and nervous, yet there was a sense of familiarity in the back of his mind.

He rubbed at the bridge of his nose and wobbled on his feet for a second as strong nausea overcame him. He felt like the world around him in that moment twisted, rolled and moved into several different directions at once. He instinctively crouched down and placed his hands on the muddy ground, anchoring himself against what he knew was a solid and unmoving surface.

Then he felt like he was slipping forwards. With a soft cry of surprise, he dug his feet against anything that could stop his uncontrolled fall. Then, when he thought that the world would simply go upside down and he would fall through the sky, it stopped. The nausea ceased and, still clinging to the inclined ground, Sonic opened his eyes.

And found himself somewhere totally different than where he had been before he had closed his eyes. Slowly standing up, careful to not slip towards the bottom of the valley, the hedgehog looked around and rubbed his forehead, smearing his fur with mud. First he was unable to power down, then he took interest in water and leaves, then the bird and now this....

Sighing in defeat, Sonic easily made his way to the top of the slope and took in his new surroundings. If before he had been running through a rather leveled zone of the forest, now it looked like it was hill after hill.

"Great..." he muttered, hitting a fist against the wet bark of a large tree. With the luck he had that day, he wasn't ruling out another accidental Chaos Control. "Just great...."

But as he was starting to believe that he was lost, Sonic felt the sudden urge to follow the valley he was facing. Blinking, he shrugged and a moment later he was sliding down the slope he had climbed, grinning and generally having fun when he acrobatically sidestepped an obstacle that appeared in front of him. It was like snowboarding, only that there was no snow and he didn't have a board.

With a long whistle and a laugh, he slid past a tree and stopped at the bottom of the slope, half-crouching with one hand onto the ground to stabilize himself. He stood up and didn't bother with cleaning his fur from all the mud. The rain would eventually clean him, and he liked the scent of wet earth and wood. It made him feel... more alive.

The air was cold and pungent, filled with sounds and scents that the hedgehog profoundly appreciated as he made his way through the huge forest. He ran for miles, not really focused on it, but at the same time feeling like he exactly knew where he was going and where he had to be, until he came into a small dip into the ground. It was surrounded by moss covered rocks and vegetation with large leaves. Easily jumping down into the dip, Sonic looked around and was pervaded by the same fascination he had earlier, attracting his attention to the small details of the rock and how well the green balanced the dark grey.

The scent of mud and wet wood returned, making him close his eyes and squeeze the bridge of his nose in an attempt to resist the spell that was coming over him once again. However, the fragrance of wild flowers sent the golden hedgehog into a swirl of confusion and bliss.

"Come on, come on..." he spoke to himself as he placed his free hand on a mossy boulder to steady his stance. "You have battled against deadly machines and angry gods, you can't let a simple smell overcome you."

Battling the overwhelming feelings, Sonic shook his head and regained control of himself. When he felt that he wouldn't be taken over by scents or details, he opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings again. Thankfully, he remained 'sane' and noticed something that wasn't part of the forest laying behind a cluster of vivid red flowers.

Curious, he crouched in front of the bush-like plant and parted the flowers, vines and small branches to check behind them.

"Well, what do we have here..." he commented as he reached under the vegetation to retrieve what had attracted his attention. Taking it out and holding it up to his eyes, he grinned at his lucky finding before he frowned in confusion once again.

The Chaos Emerald he was holding was transparent, its facets only faintly reflecting his face. Red eyes examined the core of the mystical gem carefully for several long moments before Sonic understood that the emerald was empty. The infinite power that he normally could see within it was absent, both in positive and negative, rendering what once was one of the most powerful source of energy in the universe to a simple transparent rock.

Standing up and easily jumping out of the dip, the golden hedgehog walked in the direction he had came from without taking his eyes away from the powerless gem. That the Chaos Emerald was empty was a bad thing, he knew that, but for some strange reason, Sonic didn't feel worried. He knew that because it was infinite, Chaos Energy couldn't simply end.

"I have to let Knuckles see this. He knows his stuff better than anyone else put together..." he murmured as he finally looked away from the transparent emerald in his hand and onto the path he was walking.

He was walking uphill now, following a small path made by wild animals and running water that hugged the entire length of the hill. It was fairly linear, but sometimes it would wind around a tree or rock and, as he went further up, the path sometimes would overlook a deep and narrow ravine with a raging torrent at the end.

Although he was never scared of heights and narrow passages, Sonic was glad when he finally reached the top of the hill.

He then walked along the top of the hill for maybe a hour or two, with the forest getting increasingly dark as the day turned into evening. The only positive fact was that it had stopped raining and he was oddly unbothered by his slow progress on the unstable terrain. To pass the time, he had started to whistle a tune that faintly recalled the cry of the beautiful bird he had seen earlier, and it was in the middle of repeating it for the fifth time that his ears picked up a distant sound that made him pause.

He stood motionless, his ears swiveling left and right at any small noise that broke the silence. He remained there for long seconds, maybe even a minute, and although his muscles itched to move, he remained where he was, not wanting to lose any tiny sound.

When he was losing hope to hear it again, the sound came again and Sonic managed to pick up the direction it had come from and, because of the near absolute silence of the forest, he had even recognized the call to be Tails screaming his name.

He smiled widely at that. The young fox, unlike him, was prone to worrying over certain things, and his disappearance for those long hours had surely sent the kit into enough worry to call his name from time to time. It warmed his heart how his "little brother" cared so much about him, and, to not further prolong Tails's suffering, he called back with all the voice he had.

This time he had gotten really lucky, and Sonic knew it. After all, being lucky was part of his charm.


End file.
